The Great Pearl
by chronicles1985A
Summary: The story is about a boy who starts to discover who he is
1. Chapter 1- The Boy who Could Not Die

Disclaimer: I am not a great nor am I a good author or writer. Thus I do not claim to be a grammar or spelling expert. I welcome any comments so please feel free to review the story. Any mistakes that are found will be corrected ASAP. For those who want to chat share ideas, ect you may PM, and I will get back to you ASAP.

Chapter 1: The Boy Who Could Not Die

Benjamin Eells pushed himself off the ground once again. Blood was running down his nose after another boy slammed Benjamin's head against the wall. Everyone circled around to watch this fight. The hallway walls that they were in were painted gray, with a gray cement floor dotted with red blood from Benjamin. Above them the florescent lights shined, reveling a white ceiling. The boy continued his assault on Benjamin, by kicking him in the stomach, and then started to put painful moves on Benjamin that only embarrassed him further. Benjamin had become too use to this type of abuse. He looked around in his blue eyes pleading for help. But everyone just stood around, too scared to do anything, or thought it would be cooler to laugh at him. Even the adults seemed to enjoy watching him get abused. All of them were looking at him, some laughing, some looking on, but no one in a hurry to offer a helping hand. Tears filled up his eyes, as he knew what would happen next. The bigger boy released Benjamin from his hold, swung him around, so that they would be face to face. The boy saw Benjamin's black and blue face, along with his short, dark blond hair. With all of his might, the fist of the bigger kid came at Benjamin's face. Benjamin, being too slow, got hit, fell to the ground once again, as everything around him went dark.

A couple of hours later, he would awake with a pounding headache, finding himself on the ground. As he tried to get up, his entire body protested. He also noticed that something strange had happened once again. Before everything went dark, he was certain that the floor he fell on was cement. Now he found the floor to be of dirt, with flowers. _Great! _He thought._ Just want I need, is to spend all night cleaning this up just to have it all happen again tomorrow. _

And it did, again, and again, and again. He was always looking for ways to end the pain and humiliation that he was always going through, even if it meant ending his life. But even this seemed to be a joke. Anytime he would find rope, he would try to hang himself, just to have the rope turn into a snake. The sleeping pills he tried to ingest would do absolutely nothing to him. The pillow he would smother himself with would turn into a goose. These events naturally turned him into a laughing freak show. Some teased him and called him the 'boy that can't die.'

He had been left in an orphanage with unknown parents, who obviously did not or could not care about him. He found the shovel and a bucket in their usual place, which was on the side of the gray wall. Most of the lights were turned off, as it was night time and almost everyone was sleeping. He took the shovel and the bucket and started to shovel up the dirt. As the bucket would fill up, he would go outside to dump the dirt. He would hope and pray that his bucket would not fall apart. Sometimes it did, sometimes it did not. When it did, he would spend some more time shoveling the dirt back into the bucket. As he continued to clean up the mess, removing the dirt and putting it outside, his 12th birthday occurred. Usually this meant that the orphanage would throw a party for the person having turned one year older. Maybe there would be a gift or two; however the gifts would not be too expensive. Benjamin's birthday present will be another brutal beating and be made into mockery in front of everyone once again. Maybe this time instead of enduring a 20 minute beating, he will be knocked out in 10, so he did not have to endure the pain.

The next day came, and like always, he found himself in his usual spot, very tired and sore for the work he had done the night before and the beating he took the day before. As always, he was pushed down to the ground, and put into a headlock. Like always he would put a fruitless fight up, trying to get out. A second kid came over this time, even bigger than the one that was holding him, and punched him in the stomach. Everyone came around once again to watch the daily spectacle.

The biggest kid said, "You like that? I am going to give you a special present today. I am going to make this your most painful day ever."

As that was said, Benjamin felt pain exploding from his neck backside, as an elbow was driven into it. His eyes were filling up with tears, with no one there to help him. He resigned to the fact that he was going to suffer big time. Both of the boys started to kick every inch of Benjamin while he went into a cradle position. Blood was pouring out of his mouth and eyes. His entire body was black and blue, and swollen. His world started to turn, as things were going black once again. He tried to get up, but he had no strength left. As all hope faded, something happened that no one expected. A man with brown hair with some graying came out of nowhere and was wearing a black suite with a purple tie. He was wearing glasses that were gold. He threw both of the boys off of him, and that is the last thing that Benjamin ever remembered at the orphanage.

Professor Mark Jansen was a head professor at a school called Belfair Magic of Academy. His office was a spectacular, with a polished oak floor, a polished oak desk. Portraits of those who had been headmaster before him hung on the wall to his right. Behind him was a window that looked out to a lake, while on his left was a big book shelf with lots of books, in all different sizes and shapes. In the middle of the room was where some odd artifacts that has been created or found throughout all time rested, but maybe the strangest artifact was a boat that took up half of the room.

His attire was also going to be different today. He was not use to wearing a suit and tie. He was use to wearing a robe that was a very dark purple, but not today. Today he put on a white dress shirt, and tied a tie which was dark purple that looked almost like blue. He would put on black pants, with a black jacket. He thought to himself that this should blend in quite nicely considering where he was going today. He was going to be picking up a kid today. He did not know too much about the kid, but he knew that the kid was not in a good situation at this moment, and it required his personal attention. He would not entrust this issue to anyone but himself.

He set out of his office walking down to the school grounds. There was a small town about three miles away that he would be walking to. He got on a dirt road and started his journey toward the little town. The dirt road wounded it away around, going through a forest. The birds where chirping and the squirrels were gather nuts. The wind was blowing light against him, and the flower scented the air in a sweet smell. It was a wonderful day. After he would get to the town, he would of course dissapte (that is to disappear and reappear someplace else at will) toward the town.

However his plan was interrupted, when female ran up to him. She was wearing all red, and was in a cape, with a pointed red hat. Her face looked redden, as she bent down to catch her breath. Professor Alice Cooper, "Professor Jansen, the boy is in danger."

Professor Jansen said, "Calm yourself Professor Cooper, I am heading there right now to get the boy."

"By then he will be six feet underneath the ground, he needs medical attention now!" She said with a strain in her voice

"Which he will get when you calm yourself down. Go back up to the school, alert the healer to expect the boy in a little while."

While Professor Cooper started to run off to the school, Professor Jansen decided it would be wiser to apparate to near where he was to pick up the boy now instead of later. He reappeared in a small town with lots of brown small town houses, with one or two stories. Each house had an oak tree to it. None of the parents were home, but some children were running through the grass, chasing each other. Professor Jansen calmly started to walk up the street, heading closer to the downtown area. As he did so, the houses got tighter, and tighter, and the yards became smaller. When he got out of the edition, the houses were all different shapes and sizes. A couple of people waved hello to him, as he walked on by. After 5 more minutes of walking, he arrived to a building which was one story. It had white siding, and it said, 'Welcome to Shelton Children Adoption Center.'

He walked to the front door, and opened the black glass door. He saw a small broken desk with what looked to be a sectary, or someone of that sort. The sectary seemed to have some papers stacked up to the ceiling. He walked there and greeted her and asked for Benjamin Eells.

"Why do you want him, do you want to adopt him? I should warn you a lot of freaky things happen because of that boy, why don't you pick out another boy, one that is stronger and better looking. One that is normal"

Professor Jansen kindly replied back, "I want to see Benjamin Eells, I have a spot for him at my school. I wish to take him off of your hands."

"Let me see if he is in condition to see you or not." The sectary replied back.

So the sectary went back into another room for a while, than came out. She said, "I am afraid that the boy has run away. I don't think he will be coming back, are you sure you don't want another boy, one that is more deserving to go to your school."

Something what the sectary said sounded strange to the professor. He lowered his right arm, and cupped his hand as to receive something. A wand came down from his sleeve, and he whispered something. Then, he asked as if nothing was wrong, "Where is the boy at? I would like to see if he would like to go to my school."

As if the sectary was in a trance, she said, "He is in the hallway, but you better hurry, he is getting the crap beating out of him once again."

Professor Jansen kindly replied back, "Thank you for your help, enjoy rest of your day."

The sectary replied back, "You too."

Professor Jansen walked through the doors into a lighted hallway. The walls were gray without any pictures or drawings. The floor was also cement, which kind of depressed him. He walked down a little ways and started to hear a commotion. It seemed to be a little way off. As he continued to walk down the hallway, he got to two doors. The sound seemed to be louder on the other side, and it seemed the people were cheering, for some unknown reason. He opened the door and found to be the source of the sound. There were three boys having a fight. It seemed like it was two versus one, and the one was losing quite badly. The boy that was losing had blood everywhere, but still on his feet.

There was a couple of adults there, and he went up and asked one of them, "Who is that boy, and what has he done?"

The adult replied back, "The boy name is Benjamin, and what he has done is existed."

Just than a right punch landed across Benjamin jaw, as he fell to the ground again. As he got up, he spit out some blood, as the boy behind him grabbed him from behind, and another boy started to punch him in the gut. Professor Jansen replied back, "I see. Why are you not stopping this?"

"Because he deserves this, always freaky things happen around him, things turn up missing, pillows become gooses, he tried to hang himself one time and it became a boa constrictor. So therefore he is beaten up every day so that nothing strange happens."

Professor Jansen replied back, "May I get a closer look."

The adult replied back, "Sure why not, wouldn't mind coming with you."

"That will be fine, I daresay, I am better if I go by myself."

As Professor Jansen walked up, pity filled up within him. He saw the two boys kicking ever last inch of life out of Benjamin. He knew that he was going to have to get the boy back to the school as soon as possible. He finally got to the center of the fight ring, where they just parted. Many of them who came to their senses started to run away. The two boys were so focused on kicking Benjamin, that they did not notice Professor Jansen. He walked up to them and threw them off as if there were just small twigs. Both of the boys hit the wall with such force, that they dare not take him on again. Professor Jansen, bent down, picked up Benjamin, and walked out of the orphanage. He saw the sectary, and got out his wand again, and told her that the boy indeed has ran away, and that he was sorry to trouble here He then went behind the orphanage, and apparate to near the school, and sat off to it.


	2. Chapter 2 A New Life

Disclaimer: I am not a great nor am I a good author or writer. Thus I do not claim to be a grammar or spelling expert. I welcome any comments so please feel free to review the story. Any mistakes that are found will be corrected ASAP. For those who want to chat share ideas, ect you may PM, and I will get back to you ASAP.

David Schaefer was standing next to Professor Jansen in a room full of white beds. The room was glowing red from the setting sun that was shining through the windows. Dr. Schaefer was wearing a white robe, while Professor Jansen changed into a royal purple robe. He had just finished telling Dr. Schaefer the thrilling tale on how he was able to get the boy out of the orphanage. For a moment Dr. Schafer stood where he was at, too stunned to move. After the facts sunk in, Dr. Schafer took his wand back out and continued to mutter spells onto Benjamin.

When he was done, Dr. Schaefer said, "I have done what you have instructed me to do. A sleeping drought has been applied to the boy, and he will not awake until tomorrow morning. By then he should be a little calmer. I am wondering why you do not want me to heal his bruises or have him awaken, so we could get an account on what happened at the orphanage all of his life.

Professor Jansen said in a gentle, yet putting the issue to rest voice, "I think I got a good idea what his life has been. Why have him relive that nightmare? So we can get all the juicy details out of him? So we can see how he was hit? Is his body not enough evidence that he has been beaten and broken? I would rather have him at peace at this moment, since we don't know the last that has been."

Dr. Schafer replied back with compassion, "But, why not heal him completely? Why not let me heal all of the bruises; let me heal all of his scrapes, so he does not look a punching bag. Let me take care of him so he can feel better."

"Because it is not his body that needs healing, it is his heart. He has been taught that his life is worthless. He does not know what love is. Sure you could heal his wounds and make all of his bruises go away, and you would do a very good job at it. But that won't heal him. What he needs is to be shown that people can love. He needs to see someone change his bandages, have someone cook for him, and most importantly have someone to talk to. If we heal him by magic, he will not understand how much he is cared for, nor will he understand why he was healed. In order for love to be seen it has to be shown. We would do him a great disservice if we did not show the care that he has been neglected from all of these years." Professor Jansen replied

Benjamin Eells woke up the next morning, not remembering much on what happened the day before. He found himself in an unexpected situation. For some reason, he was on something that smelt clean and flower with his head being elevated above rest of his body which made him comfortable. Whatever he was on was soft. What made it even better was that he was covered up. At the orphanage, he was never allowed to lie on a bed let alone to have covers, but surely he could not be on a bed now. He figured he was never allowed on the bed because he was dirty from shoveling the dirt off of his floor through the night. So he usually laid on the floor to get what little sleep he could get. Benjamin thought that this might be a crude joke being played on him.

A question came into his mind. Was this is last day that he was going to live? Not wanting this to end or him to find out that this was indeed a joke or this was indeed his last day; he kept his eyes shut not wanting the good feeling to end. So he kept dosing back to sleep. Finally he had to move to get more comfortable. When he did, he was brought back to a painful reality, which was his body was still in a ton of pain from a beating he had just taking the day before. After a couple of minutes and working up a sweat, he finally got himself sitting in an upright position with curiosity getting the better of him.

He indeed was lying on a bed. He saw two rows of empty white beds, with each side having about 20 beds or so. This did not look familiar to him and he thought that this surely could not be the orphanage, for he had never seen a room like this at the orphanage. The room had to be bigger than the orphanage; it was also a lot nicer to look at. The floor was polished white marble He looked up and saw a grand old ceiling with several pictures on it. He must have been seeing things, because the people in the pictures were moving while the trees were blowing in the back ground. After all, he was still fairly light headed. Maybe he had been kidnapped, but that does not seem to be a big deal since the nappers were treating him nicer than he has ever been treated before. He saw a grand wooden polished Maple door to the one side, while a window looking off to the lake on the other side. He could tell that the sun had been up for a couple of hours, but the morning was still young.

To his surprise, a man in a deep purple, almost a blue robe started to speak to him, "Good morning Benjamin."

Benjamin at first tried to jump, but his body would not allow him to do so, as another painful wave came through him. With there being no way to escape, he was forced to look at the man and hope that nothing bad would occur. The man looked older, but also a lot bigger and stronger than him. This made Benjamin's mind go into overdrive as questions were racing through his mind. How did this man know my name? Who is this man that is talking to me? Is he going to hit me? What does he want? There was no way he was could let the man know how carious he was.

The man had a red apple in his hand and took a bit from it. Benjamin continued to stare dumbfounded at him after a little while, the man began to speak once again in a soft voice, "When someone is at a new place, it always seems that the person always fails to look what is nearest to them. They seem to always be more interested in the floor, the wall, maybe a window, but I see in your case it seems to be the ceiling with the moving pictures.

"I see that you are quite or too scared to talk. Don't blame you. I would not know what to say myself if I was lying in a bed in a strange room with a ceiling that has moving pictures. Don't know if I would say anything if I had over look a complete stranger sitting right beside myself either. Well, well, where to begin? Well, I am Professor Jansen; I am the headmaster at this school that you are currently enjoying your stay at. Do you mind if I call you Ben?

Benjamin did not answer, so the headmaster continued, "I guess not. Well anyways, would you be relieved to know that you will not be going back to the orphanage any time soon."

Benjamin's eyes widened. Professor Jansen continued, "you may be wondering where we are at. The proper name of this school is called Belfair Academy of Magic. You may be wondering how you got here, but I don't think that is a story for today. You have already been through much, and I don't want to overload you with information that you will forget or that you do not need yet. However I would like to tell you why you are here, and why some things have happened to you. That is because you are a wizard.

Benjamin's eyes continued to stare at the headmaster in disbelief, and he saw the headmaster just smiling, and said, "Don't believe me do you? Ever wondered why strange things happen to you?"

Benjamin's eyes gave him away, as he really wanted to know, and for this man to prove that he was indeed a wizard. "I see that strange things have happened, I think the best way is for me to prove that I am telling the truth is to prove that I am a wizard.

Just as the headmaster had said these words, water came shooting out of his wand. The water was aimed right at Benjamin getting him and his bed was all wet. When the water stopped flowing from the wand, the bed dried up. Benjamin eyes now had the look of excitement.

"Now that I see that I have your attention, I must bore you with some additional details. As you can tell all of these beds are empty, which by now you might have concluded that we are not in school. You will need a place to stay at for the rest of the summer, which won't be too much longer, and you will need a permanent family to reside at from here on out. A place where you can call home dare I say.

"I have been taking care of that, although I must say I don't know if you will be able to go today, but I remain hopeful. In the mean time, while I am talking to the family that will be taking care of you, I figured that you need a proper meal to eat. I don't know if you have ever had one before."

A plate of food suddenly appeared. Benjamin's mouth just dropped, as he saw eggs, and pancakes in front of him. Professor Jansen just beamed at Benjamin.

Professor Jansen than said, "I think, yep, here comes the orange juice right now.

A small elf was running with a clear glass jug of orange juice above its head. When it got to the headmaster, it bowed. Professor Jansen poured the orange juice in the glass and offered it to Benjamin. Benjamin did not take it at first; as he thought that this was a test. He could not think of why someone would actually offer him a glass of anything.

Professor Jansen said, "Ben, take it, it is okay."

With Benjamin's hand shaking, he took the glass, and he waited. He waited for the smack that never came. He slowly took the orange juice and put it at his mouth. He slowly tipped the glass over, and took a gulp. He never had orange juice before, and he found it to be sweet, yet sour at the same time. There also seemed to be small little specks that he could not identify, nor did he want to know. It defiantly got him more awake. Then he started to eat his pancakes, and eggs. Anytime that he would almost run out, the plates would refill itself. Benjamin found a small silver jug sitting there. After figuring that this man was not going to hurt him, he got the courage to ask, "What is that?"

"Ben, when you address me, you call me professor, headmaster or sir, okay?" Professor Jansen said kindly.

"Sorry professor, what is that?" Ben asked in a taken back voice

"That is maple syrup; Let me pour some of it on for you Ben." Professor Jansen said as he poured some on.

It was the sweetest thing that he ever has tasted. It added taste to the pancakes. He poured some more as the headmaster walked away. After a while he was done eating, and left the food on the tray. The same house elf came on by to pick up the tray and bowed to Benjamin.

Benjamin never felt so full in his life. Benjamin continued to stare up at the ceiling, which was now showing the trees blowing from what would be the wind. He saw boys and girls of all different ages running throughout the fields. The sun in the picture looked very inviting and Benjamin half wishing that he himself was there. His thoughts became lost as he day dreamed being well enough to be able to run, jump and just play with them.

A while later Professor Jansen walked in with a woman that had black hair, and brown eyes. She was wearing a yellow robe that made her look like a fairy tale princess. Benjamin wanting to be polite to her got up out of his bed. But he saw an expression of disbelief on her face. Benjamin looked down, and saw that he was only wearing white briefs. He tried to cover himself up and felt himself going red.

"I don't believe this." The woman shirked. "Who could do that to him, Mark? He is black and blue everywhere! His face looks like it is three time its normal size. How is he standing?"

Professor Jansen smiled at Benjamin, and took his wand out of his robe. He pointed the wand at a blue robe that came across the room and went on to Benjamin. He then said, "Sorry about that Ben. I forgot to tell you that we had to throw away your clothes. They were dirty and covered in blood. Anyways, Ben, I would like you to meet Mrs. Roth. Mrs. Roth, this is Ben, or his proper name Benjamin."

Professor Jansen chuckled a little and said to Mrs. Roth, "As you see, he is a boy of many surprises. I am astonished that he is standing right now. You know, sometimes I think we under estimate the strength of the youth. Since he is standing on his own two feet, I don't see what he cannot come home with you today. There is no such reason for him to stay here, expect to be board half to death.

"Are you sure Mark?" Mrs. Roth asked

"Let's ask Ben, Ben do you want to go to the Roth's house?"

He did not know what to say, so once again he said nothing. A couple of tears were trickling down his eyes. He was never wanted before, and was always an eye sore to those that looked at him. For Mrs. Roth to actually want him was beyond anything that Benjamin could comprehend. Professor Jansen seeing Benjamin's reaction said quietly, "I think we have our answer. Mrs. Roth, how did you get here today?"

"Floo powder." She said quickly.

"I don't think that would be such a good idea with Ben here, since he may be still scared of magic. On top of that, we don't need him landing someplace else. I think the best way will be by a portkey. I just happen to have a teapot sitting around doing nothing."

"I don't know if he can handle that though." Mrs. Roth said.

"I think he will be fine. Can you be ready Ben in 10 minutes?"

Ben replied back very quietly, "Yes professor."

"Good that settles that." Professor Jansen said, he turned and said to Mrs. Roth, "Why don't you come with me while the healer has a look at Ben here to make sure that he there will be no major issues."

The healer came in and cleared Benjamin for travel. While Benjamin was getting dressed for travel, Dr, Schaffer told the professor that he is healing nicely and was in fact surprised that Benjamin was making such progress. Professor Jansen was holding a tea pot. He then went on to explain, "Ben, this is called a Portkey. It is an object that muggles won't mess with because it is ordinary. This device is going to transport you to Mrs. Roth's House, well nearby her house anyways. When you are at her house, you are to be polite and nice to them. You are not get yourself into too much trouble. You are to also listen to them at all times. Do I make myself clear?"

Benjamin replied back, "Yes, professor"

Professor Jansen than said, "Well grab onto the teapot, I shall see you soon. Mrs. Roth, if you have any problems, feel free to write to me by owl."

When Professor Jansen finished, Benjamin's world went black real fast. It felt like he was being jerked into another world. As quickly as the feeling came, it went. He felt that his feet hit ground, but was not quick enough. Instead he tripped over his feet and hit his head on the tree. Mrs. Roth was rushing over to him.

"Oh, dear, are you okay Benjamin? Let me take a look at that."

Benjamin was very hesitant to let anyone take a look at anything. But it was too late. Before he could get up, Mrs. Roth was already taking a look. Benjamin felt the area of pain get hot, as he felt his own blood trickling down his face. Compared to rest of his body, it was only a minor wound. She took out her wand, and before Benjamin could do anything, tapped where he had been bleeding and sealed it up. "There we go, that looks better, let's go to the house now."

As they approached the house, it looked like a huge brown boot with a wooden roof. It had several additions that had been added to it thought out the years. The house as Benjamin figured out was in the middle of a forest that they were in. Trees were everywhere, but they were far enough apart where the sun light occasionally got down to the ground. The house was in the middle a clearing. After looking at the house, there was no way that the house could hold itself up. Benjamin thought that it was magic that was holding it up. As he continued to cross the yard, he smiled. For he saw some chicken pecking the ground. The flower garden had been tended to, as there were a variety of reds, blues, yellows and oranges.

Mrs. Roth opened the door, and Benjamin went in. He was simply amazed what he saw. He saw pans washing themselves in a white kitchen sink that looked like it was from the 60's, a sweater being netted with no one there, a wooden red maple rocking chair rocking back and forth. The floor was made out of red tile, and it looked like it was a happy place. He proceeded into the living room where he found that there was no television as he was accustomed to. He saw that there was a fire place, with a picture of the family hanging over it. The picture had a lot of people in it, most of them in their early 30's or in their 20's. He noticed that there were a couple of younger ones in the front. The most peculiar thing about the picture was that everyone was moving in it.

Mrs. Roth went on to explain, "This is our family, and many of them are currently working. Many of them are also adopted. You will see them with time, but the younger 2 you see are here. One of them is your age, and the older one is in his third year. Both of them are my sons"

Mrs. Roth than called out, "Tony, Charles, I have someone one for you to see."

The first boy that came out was taller by several inches. He had dark brown hair and was wearing a fennel shirt. He was wearing a straw hat, and a pair of blue jeans that had some brown dust on it. He was medium built with some muscles, but not too much. His face was well tanned, slightly red at that moment. His hair was medium size, as it covered his forehead up, and it looked like it was in waves. Benjamin watched his face as it went into a look of shock, as the brown eyes was looking at Benjamin.

"Benjamin, this is Charles, as you can see, he likes to be with other animals. Charles, this is Benjamin, he will be staying here for a while he heals. He will be going to school with you this year."

Then both boys heard a thundering from upstairs. Benjamin jumped, and started to look for a way out. Mrs. Roth put both hands on Benjamin so that he could not move. Another boy, looking Benjamin's age came down. The boy said, "What happened to him?"

The boy gawked at him, while Mrs. Roth eyes looked like they were shooting fire at him as she said, "Tony, how dare you say that when you are first meeting him! Honestly, you would think you would have brains by now! I better not hear you saying anything else, got it!"

Benjamin liked the attitude of Tony. He was frank and honest. He was wearing a fannel shirt, but he looked a lot cleaner. He had brown hair with blonde highlights, and but was a little skinner and shorter then Benjamin. At this moment he was cowering, as if he could avoid some of his mother's furry.

"Anyways, Benjamin," Mrs. Roth said for your information voice, "has come from a horrible situation. You need not to be looking at him like he is some foreign specimen. He was abused, and don't go asking him how. He does not need to relive it, so keep your mouth shut. Benjamin will be staying with Tony.

"Cool" Tony said, "Can I show him around the house than?"

"Fine, and don't ask him where he got all of his bruises got that?"

But it was too late, both Benjamin and Tony left. Tony took Benjamin up some set of stairs, and took him into a room that was all blue. It was small and crammed, with two sets of everything. There were two beds, two sets of closets, two sets of dresser draws, and a window that looked out to the surrounding area. Tony showed Benjamin where his bed was and helped him unpack and get settled. Tony showed Benjamin around the rest of the house. At nightfall Mr. Roth came into the house which singled dinner was ready.

As they were all sitting around the dinner table, Mr. Roth called Benjamin on over to set right beside him. He then asked, "Who are you?"

Benjamin said quietly, "I am Benjamin Eells, sir."

Mr. Roth looked over at the wife, and it donned on him, "Oh, you come from the orphanage, tell, me how do you communicate with each other with those cell phones?"

"Uh, from satellite, why?" Benjamin asked

Dinner continued that night, with Mr. Roth asking tons of questions such as how do muggles get around, what they did for a living, and why some of them sleep with a teddy bear at night. As the rest of the month went by, Benjamin quickly became a favorite of Mr. Roth, who would always ask him questions about muggle life. Benjamin found that his life was much different than what it was at the orphanage. He had chores that needed to be done, but most of the time was his to do as he pleases, which was hanging out with Tony or Charles.

He was still having some problems adjusting, but was slowly learning how to adapt. One nasty incident is when Tony tackled him to the ground, and it took rest of the day, and Mr. Roth to calm Benjamin down. Another problem was he was still very jumpy at the slightest sound and at times was found to be breaking furniture or some dishes, lucky for him it was all repairable. Soon enough the talk of school was coming around, which Benjamin was looking forward for buying school supplies. The night before the Roth's told Benjamin what to expect that next day and how they only needed to walk a mile or so and they will be at the town center.


	3. Chapter 3 The Phoenix

Disclaimer: I am not a great nor am I a good author or writer. Thus I do not claim to be a grammar or spelling expert. I welcome any comments so please feel free to review the story. Any mistakes that are found will be corrected ASAP. For those who want to chat share ideas, ect you may PM, and I will get back to you ASAP.

Mrs. Roth came in the next morning to wake up the boys. They got up, dressed, and went down stairs to have breakfast. When Benjamin got downstairs he saw Mr. Roth wearing a pair of blue jeans, and a t-shirt. He asked, "How do I look?"

"You look okay; usually muggles wear another shirt like a polo or a sweater over their T-shirt." Benjamin replied

"That's an easy fix" replied Mr. Roth as he pushed some toast and eggs toward Benjamin while going to get a red sweater.

Charles came down stairs and asked, "Where is our school list?"

Mrs. Roth answered, "I got them here. I picked them up when I had to go get Benjamin."

"How many goes to this school?" Benjamin asked.

Mr. Roth answered, "About 1200 or so, they come from three different areas, Hoodsport, which is the area we are under, Union, and Belfair."

After they finished their breakfast, they went out the door and started to walk toward Hoodsport. The town was not big, but according to Mr. Roth, there was about 200 witches and wizards in the area besides the muggles. Mr. Roth told them that they were not counted among the muggle population. He also went on to explain how it is very hard for muggles to notice witches or wizards. They had protection on their homes and businesses so that the muggles would not walk up to them on accident.

About a mile walk, they came to downtown Hoodsport, which only had one major highway that the muggles had made. The sea was now in front of them. Although Benjamin lived in Shelton, he had never seen the sea before. He saw the waves coming in and going out. They took a right turn to go to the heart of the town. Benjamin continued to look toward the sea, where he saw that there were several pares and it looked to have fisherman on them. They continued to walk just a short way until they came to a shabby looking bar. Mr. and Mrs. Roth greeted the bar tender and went to the back. Mr. Roth touched Benjamin on his shoulder while saying, "This will be your first time going though the wall. Whatever you do, just keep walking. Close your eyes if you have to but just keep walking."

Benjamin did not know what to think, so he closed his eyes while working forward. In a matter of seconds he opened them to find out that the entire scene had change. He saw that he was now on brick road, with stands that had people selling items. He saw some selling candy, which changed from green to blue, chocolate rabbits that jumped. He saw a girl not much older than him put a piece in, and saw steam coming out of her ears while her face was turning all red. They turned left, and went into a small bank. They all walked up to a teller. Mr. Roth told the teller how much money was being withdrawn. The teller came back with the money. Benjamin noticed how very different the money was. Mrs. Roth explained to him, "We have three different types here. We have a copper coin that is called a round, which weighs one pound. This sliver one is called an ingunet, while the gold coin is called a bar. Both the silver and the Gold coins weigh one ounce.

After they walked out of the bank, Charles left them to be with some of his friends. He told them that they will meet him at the Sea Side Book Store in an hour's time. Mr. and Mrs. Roth decided that this would be a good time to take Tony and Benjamin to go get their new wands. They walked a little way where they found a building built in all glass. It looked like it belonged to a downtown metropolitan area. In the front window, there were several displays cases displaying items such as wands, potions, wines, food, and some candy. Mr. Roth opened the glass door and they went in. The floor was a polished red maple floor, with tons of shelves, as high as one can see. They went to where an old fashion cash register was, where a tall black man was standing.

"Hello, welcome to the 'Deep Tree Wand Company', we been here since 1980 how may I help you."

"Thank you, Benjamin, this is Christian Loso." Mr. Roth said.

"Nice to meet you Benjamin, how are you?" Replied Christian,

"Fine." Benjamin said quietly

"How are you Tony?" Christian asked

"I am fine Mr. Loso, how is your business doing?" Tony replied in enthusiasm

Christian asked, "Very well, here to buy your first wand?"

"Yes they are, also can you kindly fill out this order. The ministry hospital is running low on some supplies that they need." Mr. Roth said

"Of course, do you need any wine, got some in today." Christian said

"Not today, but can you give me a list of new wines you have? I say that Belfair would be very happy to see them." Mr. Roth Replied

"Of course, let's get the boys here new wands first, Tony, you wanna go first?"

Tony went up to Christian, where he started to take many measurements, such as his arm length, hand length, his waist and anything else possible. Benjamin was wondering why that had to occur, but it became apparent with time. It appeared that Christian was trying to figure out what the perfect wand was to be, and he needed the measurements to select the wand. After he had taken the measurements, he went over to a shelf and grabbed several wands. About ten minutes later, Tony all a sudden had a wand the admitted golden sparks, as a golden light shined upon him.

Christian said, "Uh, yes a lot like your brother, you have a thirteen inch, maple wand, with a feather of an owl. It will be interesting if you become a nature lover. The only difference between you and your brother is that his wand is a bit shorter, yours may be a tad bit more flexible than his."

Christian went over to record the wand down, and its owner, and then went to Benjamin. Benjamin was a little nervous as measurements were being taken, as Christian said, "No need to shake."

Benjamin replied quietly, "Sorry."

"Everyone is nervous the first time. Where is your family at?" Christian asked while he started to take measurements

"I don't know, I lived in an orphanage most of my life until the Roth's took me in." Benjamin replied while Christian put Benjamin's arms down

"I see, have you seen their picture on the wall yet?" Christian asked

"Yeah, they have a huge family!" Benjamin replied

"Most of them were like you, adopted into their family. Tony and Charles are the only children they have had." Christian replied back

"Why?"

"That is something you have to ask them."

Benjamin was about ready to ask the Roth's why, but Christian handed Benjamin his first wand. Benjamin did not know what to do, and then Christian told him to wave his wand. Benjamin waved it and sent a flower pot toward Christian, but he ducked as the pot hit the glass wall smashing to pot to pieces. Benjamin quickly put that wand down.

"Don't worry, that is not the first time that has happened, try this one."

Benjamin continued to try wands for the next 30 minutes, but it seemed that he was no where closer to finding the right wand for Benjamin. Mrs. Roth took Tony out of the store with her so they could meet Charles at the book store. Benjamin continued to try, but it seemed like that no wand wanted him. Most of the store was in a mess now since Benjamin sent flying pieces everywhere. Benjamin was surprised that no one else at this time came in to the store, he was sure that Christian wanted a break from him. Benjamin eyes followed Christian eyes which lead to a display case that held a wand. Benjamin saw that wand when he walked into the store, but he did not say anything about it, nor did he even think about it.

"I wonder something, what is your last name?" Christian asked

"Eells, why?" Benjamin asked

There was a moment of fear on Christian's face. He then looked at Mr. Roth's face, which flashed a do not tell him anything sign. Apparently Christian got it as he opened than shut his mouth for a second. There seemed to be something that Mr. Roth or Christian did not want him to know, and he wanted to know what it was.

Before he could ask, Christian walked over to the glass case and removed the wand from it. He slowly walked over to Benjamin and gave him the wand. Benjamin felt warmth spreading through his body, as the wand shot out golden sparks.

Christian Said, "Well that is interesting."

Mr. Roth looked troubled. Before Mr. Roth could start to speak, a golden phoenix with a red head popped out of thin air and landed on Benjamin shoulder. Benjamin was at a loss for words, while Mr. Roth looked even more concerned.

Mr. Roth said, "Where did you get that wand from?"

"Well, that wand is called the 'Giving Wand', it keeps popping up in history. It is made from a Douglas Fir, stiff, and is 11 inches. It has a very bloody history to it, but it is rumored that whoever made this wand still lives, but that is of course not true, for the wand was made over a thousand years ago. It is said that whoever made it gave it to one of his dearest friends, along with a phoenix. The friend took the wand and started to use it for evil deeds, and the phoenix left him. The friend being lonely and desperate tried one final attempt obtain power, wealth, and most important fame and respect, but failed. Having pity upon himself and maybe wanting to right some of his wrong deed, he killed himself. Since then, several others tried to track this wand down and use it to gain power but of course, they all failed. It was rumored that the man who made this wand won't rest until the wand has found it proper owner."

"The wand was found about fifty years ago in Shelton by a woman. She heard of the legend, but instead of using it for her own, she gave to a wand maker with the idea of keeping it out wrong hands. So it was safe until twelve years ago, where two people murdered four people to get their hands on the wand. They started to blast everyone in sight, but was caught shortly afterwards. They were both punished and giving sentenced to life at a prison. Since then, the wand has been traveling back and forth from here to there. I just happened to be keeping it for the time being. It was suppose to go a couple days from now, but it looks like it has found its new owner. It is rumored when the rightful owner of the wand came to collect it, that the phoenix was to return. I have no doubt that this wand belongs to Benjamin, for it is the wand that chooses the wizard. The wand that you have is very powerful, suppose to be one of the most powerful. It is worth a fortune.

"How are we supposed to afford it?" Mr. Roth asked, "I get paid good money, but not that good."

"I can't sell it actually, it is not mine to sell, it is now Benjamin's wand, and he is the owner. There is no one who can sell it." Christian said

"You can't tell anyone he has it, that will put him in mortal danger." Mr. Roth said.

Benjamin said, "Someone else can have that wand, I don't want its power, or its fame."

Christian replied back, "It has already chosen you, the bird is yours also."

"What is a phoenix?" Benjamin asked

Mr. Roth replied in a resigned voice, "It is a bird that can heal, and carry very heavy loads. It is reborn for its ashes, it these things can live for thousands and thousands of years. They are also a song bird, they are known lament when its owner dies."

Mr. Roth looked at Christian and asked, "Do you have a fire place? I need to speak to someone about this development to see what needs to occur.

Of course Christian said. Mr. Roth and Christian went back to the fire place. It left Benjamin and the song bird with each other. The song bird remained on Benjamin shoulder until both of them came back than Mr. Roth said, "Here is the plan. Christian will keep a hold of your wand and the song bird here. They are yours that much was made clear. When we are done with our shopping which will be here soon, we will come back. You will send the Phoenix home with all of our stuff, but you will keep your wand with you but hidden."

"Okay" Benjamin replied.

After that they both meet Mrs. Roth, Tony and Charles at the Sea Side Book Store where they had tons of books that one could possibly imagine. Mrs. Roth had already gotten the books when they got there, and Mr. Roth told them what happened. Tony thought it was the coolest thing possible that Benjamin got that wand. They went back to the owl store to get a brown owl for Tony so that he could send letters home. They went to the Deep Tree Potions where they got things they needed for a potion kit where Christian served them once again. It was the exact opposite where they had gotten there wands, as it had an old fashion feeling about it. They walked to the wand store afterwards and sent the phoenix to the Roth's house. The Roth's then went home with and saw the Phoenix there.


	4. Chapter 4 Spiraling Star Express

Disclaimer: I am not a great nor am I a good author or writer. Thus I do not claim to be a grammar or spelling expert. I welcome any comments so please feel free to review the story. Any mistakes that are found will be corrected ASAP. For those who want to chat share ideas, ect you may PM, and I will get back to you ASAP.

Benjamin soon forgot about the history of his wand and his song bird. He did not really care about it either of their histories, it was something that could of not been helped. He loved them both because it was his first possessions that he ever had. Benjamin was excited because the first day of school had finally come. Benjamin was getting around, bringing his trunk down while double checking to make sure that everything was in its place. The only thing that bother Benjamin was that he was going to miss having dinner with Mr. Roth, who always liked to talk about anything that dealt with muggles, such as spark plugs, computers, cell phones, TV's, cars, any anything that had to deal with muggles. Tony asked, "Where is dad at?

Mrs. Roth answered, "He had to go to work early, all of you ready?"

"Yeah" They replied back

"Good, finish up breakfast, than we will walk to town." Mrs. Roth said.

Their breakfast were light, it was only toast and orange juice. It was so they could make it down to the station without any issues and be on time. They were all getting their belongings together, when Benjamin thought that this would look strange, especially if they came across a muggle. He asked, "How are we going to carry all of this down without drawing attention to ourselves."

"Oh, we have a family wagon, where we put everything into. Then it gets covered by an invisibility cloak so that no one sees it." Charles replied back.

Benjamin asked. "Cool, so do I just put everything in then?"

"Yeah, there is plenty of room." Charles replied back again

After they loaded the wagons with all of their possessions, Mrs. Roth, put a cloak over it which made it disappear, and then put a spell on it so it would follow them. They went outside, and started there walk. It was a bright sunny day without a cloud in the sky. It was a perfect day for a walk. In a while they sea appeared before them which was at peace this morning with no waves. There were seagulls flying in the air, looking for it morning meal. When they got into town, they went though the bar, and walked down the windy path which they bought everything from a week ago. They went for about another 5 minutes where they saw what looked to be a green platform. On the sign is said _Hoodsport Train Station for Wizards_.

There looked to be another 100 hundred young wizards or witches in the area. Benjamin jaw dropped, apparently there were more of them then what he first thought. They were all different shape and sizes. There was a clock right above the sign, which showed it was 8:45 AM. They went into the station where a sign showed the incoming trains, and it showed that the next one was coming in at 9AM, which was called _The Spiraling Star Express._

"That is the one you will be getting onto Benjamin." Mrs. Roth said.

Benjamin shrugged his shoulders as he waited. The train rolled in from the north precisely at 9AM on the set of tracks closet to them. There were two tracks. The train was all black. The train looked like it had about 8 other cars attached, which were all black, expect for yellow lettering that said _Spiraling Star Express._ When the train had come to a complete stop, Mrs. Roth helped them load their trunks on the train. She gave them all hugs as she said good bye. She gave Tony and Benjamin two ingunets, while she gave Charles 20 silver ingunets, with the instructions that 5 of those coins were to go to the head master, Professor Jensen.

The train took off, and Charles went off to be with some of his friends which left Tony and Benjamin alone. The train was still fairly empty, so there were no problems finding an empty cabin for themselves. The train got darker as the train went down the track, heading toward thicker forests. In a matter of minutes it looked like they were in the middle of woods with no civilization around them. The dark green leaves kept the train cars cool as it rumbled down the tracks. Every hour or so, a train heading northbound would pass them on the left sets of tracks. The sea also made guest peaks from the woods, showing that they were hugging the sea coast.

After a couple of hours, Benjamin asked, "How long do you think this trip will take?"

Tony replied back, "I heard it will take a day or so, we are suppose to stop for the night at a hotel, well, at least that is what my brother had said."

"Wow, I did not know it was that long, how far are we going?"

"I don't know, I think it is 10 or 11 leagues."

"How come it takes us that long to go that far? What is a league?"

"Don't forget, you are use to the way that muggles measure. Don't forget they can't go everywhere like we can, in fact there is a lot of places they can't go to. And we can't be seen by muggles, so we have to stay in our wizard world which takes a lot longer to get around. A league is an hour's worth of travel by a magical device such as this train, broom, or any other transportable device that is done by magic."

"Whoa, How's come wizards just don't make as much room as they want?"

"I don't know."

"What is it that your father does?"

"Oh, he works for the Ministry, he deal with muggles a lot, he loves them, don't know why."

They both continued to talk. A quarter before noon, Charles walked in as the train slowed down. Tony and Benjamin were getting hungry and were glad to see him. Tony asked, "Where are we supposed to eat at?

Benjamin asked, "Why is the train slowing down?"

Charles answered, "We are going to eat on the train, and the train is slowing down to stop at a small train station called Potlatch. We are going to pick up about 10 others at this stop, and then proceed to a small town called Union where we will stay the night."

The trained stopped and picked up some more young wizards as Charles, Tony and Benjamin headed to the dining cart. When they got into the dining cart, the train started to take off. Charles said hi to a couple of his friends as they walked on by. A middle age man, that looked like a butler dressed in a black suit and tie came to them and gave them all a glass of water. It was the strangest menu that he ever saw. Instead of there being words, it showed pictures that his mind was thinking or carving. He kept looking at the menu until it stopped at a hamburger with fries. He always seen others had them, but never had it himself. The butler came back with more water, and asked for the menus. Charles and Tony out of habit just gave the menu the butler without saying anything. Benjamin just followed their example.

"How does he know what we want? Benjamin asked.

"Did you see the pic of your menu that is what you will be having." Tony said laughing

"What did you get?" Benjamin asked

"I got fish and chips." Tony said

Charles eyed Benjamin and said, "I got a couple of chili dogs."

As the train continued down the tracks, Benjamin saw that the sea once again and the disappeared, as he continued his conversation with Charles, "How do they make menus like that?"

"Ah, there is a charm on them, so the paper shows one what one is thinking and is wanting most out of the selection that it has to offer. Kind of a bit of good magic if I must say, though it is relatively new charm. Easy to do though."

"Wow, that is so cool."

Tony just laughed, he found it funny that Benjamin thought that something so simple could be so cool. After a little while the food came out and the boys ate. Now being full, they all made it back to the cars, as they train continued down the tracks. The boys continued to talk off and on. Benjamin found it fun being on a train. The train made a couple more stops, and more and more people was getting onto the train. The sun was getting ready to stop when they came up to Union. Charles came back to the cart that they were in so they could eat dinner, as the sun set. When they finished dinner, the train stopped in Union.

"Well, the train is done for the night, we need to find a place here to sleep, there is a hotel that I normally stay at, and they should be expecting us." Charles said

So the boys walked off the train and started for the hotel with a small case that was prepared for the night. Union was a small little town. The roads were lighted with lamps, with a small commercial center. It looked like this town was smaller than Hoodsport, but not by much. Instead of the sea being to the east, it was to the north. The town had one small pier, where the boats were coming in for the night. There were several small restaurants that were full with families setting in a candle light setting. The road they walked on was cobblestone. There was a sign that pointed to where the hotel was, that was pointed to the sea. As they approached the hotel, it was lighted by more lamps. There were all types of people there. Some were old, while others appeared just to be visiting there. There were some men that looked like they fished all their lives, while others look like they were taking a family vacation for a couple of weeks.

The building was made out of all logs with brown stones on the side. They got off of the cobbled road and ended up on a cement sidewalk. There were several signs pointed in different directions. There was a sign pointed to log cabins, piers, pool, spa, and several other directions and things. They followed the sign to the hotel, which was called the "Union Log Cabin." A small banner hanged underneath which said, "Welcome students of Academy of Belfair." The rooms looked very inviting from the outside, as a lot of the room lights were on, making the hotel glow.

When they got inside, Charles went to the main desk to get a hotel room for the three of them with two beds, which cost 3 ingunets and 9 rounds. The boys went up to the room to inspect in and to put the small case in the room so they would not have to carry it around. The night was young, and they figured that they could explore the hotel grounds a little. It would provide an excellent chance to stretch out their legs. So they started to go down to the pool after changing into swim suites. Both Charles and Tony took off their shirts, and dived right on in while Benjamin was a little shy at first, but joined Tony and Charles. They splashed, put each other under the water and had fun for about an hour or so. Soon after Charles went to join his friends,. Benjamin got out of the water since the pool was getting to full for his comfort, and went into the spa for a little while.

After relaxing for about 15 minutes his eyes darted toward a tree. For a quick moment he spotted a boy. The boy looked really shy, and looked like he was hiding. Maybe this would be a good time to meet someone he thought. No one else seemed to be paying attention, so what harm could come of it. He got out of the spa, and started toward the boy. As he got closer to the boy, his faced looked like he had not had a bath for months. But how did this boy get here, he must be a wizard of some sort. Benjamin thought even though he hardly had any knowledge himself, knew that his was in an area that only witches and wizards could be at.

He tried to get closer to the boy and said, "Hi."

Without warning the boy started to run back to where the pool was. Benjamin without thinking started to run after him, what does he have to be afraid of? Benjamin chased the boy and went by the pool. Charles saw him and said "Ben, what are you doing?"

Benjamin continued to chase the boy as Charles was now chasing Benjamin. Benjamin was starting to catch the boy as the boy started to go up hill into the woods, but Charles was catching Benjamin quicker. Benjamin put on a spurt of speed, to try to catch to boy as Charles was yelling at Benjamin to stop. Benjamin ignored Charles, as he continued his pursuit of the boy. The woods were getting thicker, but Benjamin was almost to the boy. Suddenly, Benjamin took a leap and put a hand on the boy. Wham! They both had crashed into a tree. Benjamin head hit the tree hard, and his world was spinning as he was seeing stars. He was still holding onto the boy as they were now tangled with each other. The other boy was trying to get out, but was not able to get out of Benjamin's hold.

Charles came to them, as the boy started to scream, "I did do nothing, I was just looking for food."

Charles was able to pull Benjamin off, and stand him up and did the same to the other boy. His wand was pointed at the boy in a threatening way. Benjamin was still seeing stars in front of his eyes as his world continued to rotate. It was hard for him to stay focus. Charles asked the boy, "What is your name and where do you live?

The boy almost in tears said, "I am Danny Corriea, and, I , I.

It was Benjamin who finished the sentence. "Charles I think he his homeless. Look at him; he is just about my age. He is dirty, and his clothes really smell."

Benjamin fell down as what sounded like the wind started to sound. The sound got louder, and it was a higher pitch then the wind, and it was singing a tone, a beautiful, calming tone. For a couple of minutes the sound slowly got louder, until its source landed on Benjamin shoulder. It was his phoenix. The phoenix flew to where the boy was bleeding and it started to leak tears, and heal the wounds of the boy. The phoenix than went to Benjamin and healed his wounds so that Benjamin was no longer light headed.

Charles than asked, "Did you ever get an owl about going to school?"

The boy than handed Charles a letter that was dirty, ripped, and had been crumpled up. Charles suggested "We need to get to the hotel to get this matter cleared up; you don't have anything do you?"

The boy shook his head. Charles said, "That is what I thought; we need to get this solved so you can go to school. We need to talk to my parents to figure out what needs to occur."

"How are we going to talk to your parents, they don't have a phone and we don't have cell phones." Benjamin said.

"What are those?" Charles asked.

"Uh, they are what muggles talk through which, um, well, you know, it how they talk." Replied Benjamin.

"That won't help us, but we wizards have other ways of talking to each other. We will need to find a fire place."

The boys started to walk down the hill back toward the hotel with Danny between them. Charles had pocketed his wand. It took them 10 minutes before they got into the hotel and most of it was downhill. Charles took Danny and Benjamin to their room, where it happened to have a fire place. Charles took out the wand, and pointed it at the fire place and shouted, "Incendio!"

A fire erupted from the wand and landed in the fire place. The fire was burning even though there were no logs. Charles went and muttered another spell and then put his head in the fire. Benjamin than took a look at Danny, for it was the first time. He was shorter and smaller then Benjamin, about four feet, ten inches, weighing around eighty pounds. His hair was a sandy blond color with a hint of red. His entire body was very dirty as he was in a torn shirt, and torn pants. Charles came out of the fire and said it was going to be a minute. Tony came into the room, and wondered what was going on. Charles filled him in on what happened, and they were waiting.

A couple of minutes later, and middle age face was on the fire. He had a beard with medium hair. Benjamin had seen this face; it was Professor Jansen who rescued him from the orphanage. He looked over at Charles and then saw Benjamin and said, "Hello Charles, and Benjamin, how are you?

Charles replied back, "I am fine, you?

"Fine myself, how about you Ben?"

"I am okay."

"I see, Charles, who found the boy."

Charles did not say anything, but looked over at Benjamin. Professor Jansen said, "I see, Ben, How did you find him?"

"Well, I was in the spa." Benjamin said, he felt himself going red as he got a little hotter, "I wanted to say hello, but he started to run, and I ran after him. Charles here started to chase after me. Uh, after a while I caught him in the woods."

"More liked tackled him to a tree." Charles said laughing.

Benjamin went even redder, as Professor Jansen said, "I see you are already getting yourself into trouble Ben. Well, is he the one standing by you?"

Benjamin just shook his head as Professor Jansen said, "I see, your name is Danny?"

Danny just shook his head

Professor Jansen than said, "I was told that you are homeless, but you still received my letter correct?"

Danny just shook his head again.

"I see, well it is a good thing that Benjamin did tackle you to the tree, you have been very hard for me to find. I think you know that you are a wizard by now, kind of hard to think that you are not; do you want to go to school?

"How can I afford it?" Danny asked. Benjamin just noticed how his voice was just slightly deeper than his own.

Professor Jansen said, "You don't need to worry about that. Charles, I need you to listen. What Danny needs is a shower and to get cleaned. As he is doing so, I will tell the hotel manger personally what has happened so that they can get him so clothes to change into. I will shop for his books and robes tomorrow, along with Ben's robes, since he could not get his clothes due to another reason. You are to pay for his food for tomorrow, and I will take that into account when you pay me tomorrow for Benjamin's clothes. I will take care of any extra charges at the hotel. After they send up his clothes, Danny is to give you his old clothes and you are to burn them to prevent the spread of disease.

Charles said, "That is all good, how do you want to me to keep track of what he spends tomorrow on the meals?"

"That should not be a big deal, just deduct that from what you owe me. Just make sure he makes it here, okay?" Professor Jansen said.

"I will do so, see you tomorrow evening than?" Charles said.

"Of course, have a pleasant evening, and keep Benjamin out of trouble from here on out." Professor Jansen said right before his face vanished from the fire.

Charles told Danny to take a good long bath. About twenty minutes later the hotel manager came up with some clothes for Danny to wear. Charles put them in the bathroom for Danny to change into. Danny finally came out of the bathroom wearing a pair of pajamas. The clock was approaching midnight when the boys went into bed.

The boys got up early next morning, with Benjamin feeling stiff and tired from last night adventures. Though the phoenix took care of all of the scratches, but it did not take care of all of the bruises he got last night. Still feeling proud that he finally managed to do something right, he was in a good mood. The sun was shining through the windows which over looked the hills that Benjamin went up yesterday. Benjamin along with the other boys went down stairs with the small case to have breakfast before the train left and continue to school. When he went down to oak stair case, he saw that Charles and Tony was wearing the normal stuff as they normally wear, but Danny was wearing plaid short with a red polo shirt. The room was brightly lilted from the sun shining through the windows. All of them were having some oatmeal or a muffin or two. Benjamin helped himself to a couple of muffins and hurried up so they would not miss they train because of him

After breakfast the boys went out of the hotel, and back toward the train station. Benjamin thought that the scenery was outstanding. With it being dark last night he could not really see anything. This morning however Benjamin saw that they were not too far away from the beach. The beach instead of having sand was all made of stones. The fishermen were looking like they were loading their boats for the fishing or whatever they did out on the sea. As they got closer to the train station, the small town opened up even more as they walked down the cobbled stone road. The smell of freshly baked bread dominated the town. When they got to the train station, they looked at the train schedule. It was apparent that the next train would not be here until tomorrow night. Benjamin looked at the track, instead of it being a double track that he saw yesterday, it was single. The tracks did not look as well maintained as it did yesterday either. He assumed that not as many trains came down here, and this area was use to being isolated.

The train took off at eight in the morning and the cars were a lot fuller than yesterday, but still some empty seats. There also seemed to be fewer cars which made the train smaller. In fact the conduction came on by and explained, "We took some cars away, and sent them down them down to Shelton, they said they needed him and we did not, so their train came up here and grabbed them last night."

Benjamin asked, "Sir, when will we get to school?"

The conductor replied back, "Later on tonight, you all should be there by dinner time. We only have a couple more stops to make."

Benjamin thanked the conductor for the information. The track had a lot more curves to it than the one yesterday as it hugged the coast. The woods were not as thick either. Benjamin kept to himself while Danny and Tony talked most of the way. The sun was still up when the train finally stopped. Benjamin along with the other boys got walked off the train, and waited at the station, where finally a carriage came on by. Charles said that they needed to get on, and that they will be at the school by sundown. So they got on, as the carriage started to gain elevation. After about two hours later the carriage leveled off and they saw several smaller buildings with a huge fire in the middle of these buildings. The trees became very thick as if no rain has ever fallen in the area. The carriage stopped, and the boys got off. As they went closer to the fire, the saw torches were lighting. The floor was a hard mud, as there were now several tall buildings made of trees. Some of them had houses or building on top of the trees, while some of the buildings were the actual trees. Professor Jansen was standing near the fire as he was welcoming students, sending many of them to the cafetertery.

Benjamin noticed that many were in a dark green robe, but he along with Tony, Danny, and Charles were still only in street clothes. Benjamin was all a sudden wondering what will happen to them. When they got to Professor Jansen, he said, "You need to go where you board at for the year, your robes will be in there. I dare say that Tony and Charles, you have you robes with you?"

"Yes Professor." Replied Charles, "We just did not change to make things simpler since I was going to have to show them where they were staying anyways. Do I have permission to proceed?"

"You may, but please listen very carefully. Tony, and Benjamin will need to go beside the Gathering Hall, for a couple of minutes as instructions are giving to them. I have to take Danny to my office so we can get him equipped with a wand." Professor Jansen said.

Professor Jansen handed Charles a parcel who then handed it to Benjamin that contained his robes. Charles led Tony and Benjamin to the dorms. Charles walked for a couple of minutes before they arrived at a tree trunk. There were two royal blue flags right beside this tree which looked like an entrance. The two blue flags that had a killer whale that made the first half of the circle, with their being the canal, mountains and pine tree on the bottom half of the circle. Charles knocked a pattern, and the bark parted to leave them in. They all got into the tree trunk, but it seemed that it only would support four or five people standing. When they got in, the floor below them started to move up. It increased with speed for a minute when it finally stopped. They got out, and saw a huge room with a roaring fire. They got out and saw there were several wooden, but fine looking tables. Benjamin looked at the fireplace, and above it saw a ship steering wheel.

Charles pointed to a spiral stair case which went up. Benjamin, Tony, and Charles climb for a full minute when they finally entered into their dorm. They walked into it seeing that the room was smaller with a smaller fire. Benjamin thought it really felt like a home should feel like. The floor was a white clear marble with a strong smell of pine. They continued to walk and found their room which had their name above it, but there was a fourth boy that they did not know. It said, Tim Barbeau, Danny Corriea, Benjamin Eells, and Tony Roth. The boys opened the door, and found there to be two bunk bed, with the same polished white clear marble floor. Benjamin went to the window and he thought he saw the sea. He saw tiny little dots that looked like where ships were located at. It reminded him of Hoodsport and him being on a hill near the sea. The stars were starting to shine, and it looked like a place where he was going to love

The boys got changed into the dark green robes and went back down the spiral stair case to meet up with Charles again. Then they went to where the tree elevator was, and then they went down back to the ground level and headed to the back to the Gathering Hall. Charles pointed in the direction that Tony, and Benjamin needed to go to. They saw that Danny was already standing in line while wearing what appeared to be new robes and then they went to him

The three boys started to stand in the group, until a man wearing a yellow robe came on in. He said, "Hello, I am professor Spiro. You all are getting ready to embark on an educational journey that will take you to the highest of mountains and to the lowest of valleys. You are embarking on a journey that will take on your way to self discovery. Along the way, you will be able to earn points for your feats while loose points for your failures and rule breaking. The house that has the most points at the end of the season will win a cup. There are four houses that have been founded each having its own history. You have Wise Weiseman of the west, the Pennock from the hills of the north, the Gokey's from the woods of the south.

"In a moment I will be opening the door, and you will walk inside to the Gathering Hall to the front in a line. You will then turn around, as you are presented to the older students. The Prefects then will come up to you and show you where to seat. After that the Headmaster will go over the rules that you are not allowed to break, and then the feast will start."

As Professor Spiro finished, the doors opened, to where another six-hundred students were looking at them. Benjamin thought that there was a huge spot light on him. He walked with Tony in front and Danny behind him. Everyone was clapping as he walked in. He saw floating candles, with lots of tree leaves above him. It looked like it was very hard for rain to get on in into the hall with the leaves where so tight. The sides were made of windows, which looked like a honey comb was surrounding them. Benjamin looked down and saw that he was standing on a glass floor. Through the glass floor, he saw that there were underground bugs, a couple of moles tunnels, and earth warms. Benjamin looked and saw three long tables which each of them had banners above them. The banners above the table to the furthest right had a royal blue background with a killer whale. The table to his right had a light blue background with an Huskie. The table to his left had a purple background with a green alligator (which made Benjamin wonder why they would even have that design).

When Benjamin got in front of the headmaster, he turned around and saw that there were several older students coming with them with a torch that was lighted by a fire. They are approached the first years and just stood there. Professor Jansen while wearing a deep purple robe, the same one that Benjamin saw on the day is was at the school, got up while saying, "Good evening students. May the prefects please seat the students before I begin to bore you half to death with a speech and go over some of the new rules."

The prefects started to ask the first years what their name was and while looking at the list, told them where to sit at. A prefect came to Benjamin and asked for his name, and Benjamin told him. The prefect pointed to the table that was under the banner of the whale. Benjamin went to that table and sat down in between Danny and Tony. He waited for the rest of the rest of the first years to be sorted out and seated at the correct table.

Professor Jansen got and started to address the school, "Welcome students of old and students of new. As tradition, I will take this time to go over the rules while giving you a few of my thoughts and feelings for this coming up year. As always I would first like to say that no students are allowed to go into the woods unless they wish to die a most painful death. Also like always, while swimming is permitted when the weather is good, all students are reminded that they are not allowed to swim under the lake or across the entire lake. We don't want to have any student go where we cannot get to them or for them to run into any muggles. Also Mr. Kravetz has asked me to remind you that there shall be no magic performed while going in between classes." His eyes flicked toward Charles there for a second as he smiled. "Also, the list of prohibited objects for this year has been extending to include trick wands. It seems apparent that one of those wands produced a rubber chicken that was aimed toward a candle. It caught on fire, and well, that supposedly took hours to clean. For a full list of one thousand two hundred and twenty-two items please see Mr. Kravetz, though I must ask of him for what seems for the 3,000th time to get that list updated.

"Also I would like to remind you that the heads of the house will be coming to you tomorrow to give you your class schedule, so please come down to breakfast, though I know that many you will have to wake up earlier than what you would like. We promise not to poison you during breakfast. Now let's eat."

As he said that, the food just appeared out of thin air, as the feast began. Benjamin never saw so much food in front of his face before. It was apparent that today theme seemed to focus of the sea, as there were salmon, shrimp, and clams sitting on golden serving plates. There were two soups which were clam chowder and vegetable soup in golden bowls. There was steamed broccoli and a salad, both of them sitting in a Golden bowl. There was a bowl full of mash potatoes that was seasoned. Benjamin started to load the food on his plate as he took a look at Danny. He saw that Danny mouth just hung opened.

"What's up?" Benjamin asked?

"Uh, nothing, I just don't know what to have." Danny said, as he started to help himself to a little bit of everything.

Benjamin just laughed, "What did you have before?"

Danny said, "Well there would be days that I just went hungry. I would collect what was out of the trash at times. Sometimes someone would have pity upon me and would buy me some food."

Benjamin just shrugged his shoulder as he was just at a loss for words. He did not really know what to say. So he just changed topic, "Is that your new wand?"

Danny blushed while saying, "Yeah it is. I got it when I went to the headmaster's office. There was someone there who helped me get the wand that I needed. It is 12 inches, inflexible oak."

Tony replied, "Cool, can't wait until we use our wands! I wonder how we are going to use them."

Benjamin replied back, "I hope we don't use them tomorrow, I will look like an idiot. I have only been in the magical world for a month."

Danny said, "You think you will look like an idiot, I just learned of this last night. I hope they don't grade us on how to use our wands."

"That would stink." Benjamin replied back while agreeing.

"I wonder what we will be able to do; maybe we get to fight a thousand monsters." Replied Tony

Danny replied back, while slopping so food over himself, "I hope not, I would die."

"Nah, I heard a teacher is always with you." Tony said knowledgeably

After the main course was done, dinner came up which surprised a lot of people. It was peach pie with vanilla ice cream. When everyone had eaten to their fill, Professor Jansen got up to dismiss the school for the night. The prefects gathered all of the first years around and took them. A tall girl with brown bushy hair went up and introduces herself as the perfect for the Weiseman house. She then led them to the where the Weisemans common room. When they got there, they saw a man in black here, could not of been older than 40 years old. The tall girl took the group to the man.

"Hello everyone, I am Professor Avis Clever. I am the head of house for the Weismans. Our house was founded by Darren Weisman around 1898. It was founded in a small town called Hoodsport. The idea was to gather all witches and wizards that were worthy enough to be a witch or wizard. Weisman prized wisdom above all traits, and would teach the students the wisdom that he knew. He is very famous for starting up a potion shop near Hoodsport, though it has changed names many times now. His most famous discovery happened in 1922, where he discovered that one can use crystal balls for not only telling the future but one can also use crystal balls could also hold in memories or prophecies from a fortune teller. He also discovered the pearls off of oysters were the best substance to make these crystal balls. Shortly after his death in 1953, there was in need of an instructor, but Hoodsport could not find one nor afford one. Union and Lalliwop were having the same problems, and they all decided to merge into one school. It worked for a couple of years, but due to dwindling population in all locations and more hard times, in 1978 we along with 3 other areas consolidated and formed the Belfair Acadmy of Magic. Since then we have been operating with the houses while educating the students here.

"While you are here I expect you to try your best to compete against the other houses. Though it is a friendly competition, we like to try our best to win. Whoever gets the most points wins the house trophy which is in the shape of a boat. I know there is several clubs that don't care about the houses, and are there to promote inner school cooperation. So please do be aware while you are competing against them, you are also to become friends with them. I will see you tomorrow at breakfast enjoy rest of your evening.

Benjamin Ells went to the room where is name was on and got ready to bed with the other boys. He saw a new boy and they all introduce themselves. The new boy name was Tim Barbeau and he had buzzed black hair, and was really well built for his age. He looked like he worked out every day. He was very quite though for being as strong as he was. He told them good night, as all of the boys started to get in their bed and drifted off to sleep


	5. Chapter 5- The Duel

Disclaimer: I am not a great nor am I a good author or writer. Thus I do not claim to be a grammar or spelling expert. I welcome any comments so please feel free to review the story. Any mistakes that are found will be corrected ASAP. For those who want to chat share ideas, ect you may PM, and I will get back to you ASAP.

The sun was rising as Benjamin Ells was heading toward the Gather Hall with Danny Corriea and Tony Roth. When they entered, they went to their assigned. It did not look as elaborate as last night's feast, but there were eggs, bacon, toast with strawberries spread out on the table. During breakfast, Professor Clever came around to give them their schedules. Benjamin took his schedule by surprise because they were handing out ipods. What would witches and wizards need with an Ipod? It had the schedule for that day which included the classes that he was going to take. Professor Clever explained that these schedules could change with a flick of the wand, and showed him how it was done. It also had some daily events which some were mandatory to attend while others were optional. He saw some classes that muggles would normally take such as English and Math. He also saw classes that he never heard of before such as Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Potions, Herbology, and Transfiguration. He flipped through it and the classes seemed to always be changing as if there were no order to this. He also found that some of his books were on the Ipod.

According to his schedule he his muggle classes in the morning while Charms were slated for the afternoon. After Professor Clever left Benjamin quickly finished his breakfast and then proceeded to his first class with Tony and Danny. It took them a while to find it since the school was very spread out from only having one floor. When he finally found his class, he planted himself at a desk in the back. A short and fat woman with gray hair entered the classroom. She was wearing a cheap yellow dress that had all flowers on it. She called out, "Benjamin, get I want you up front."

Wondering what he could have possibly done wrong, he planted himself between Danny and Tony. He said to them in a very quiet voice, "I wonder why we have to be here, aren't we wizards?"

The woman then called out, "It appears we already have a know it all, why don't you tell everyone your opinion Benjamin?"

Benjamin went very quiet as he felt his face going red. Why me? He thought. Than the women started to talk, "I am Professor Kelly Sullivan, and just in case you are wondering, this is a muggle class. Before I was going to talk, a Mr. Benjamin loud mouth was asking, or let's say shoot off his over sized mouth on why we have to be here to his friends."

Benjamin went even redder as Professor Sullivan continued, "So I ask you this, how do you expect to read instructions in your other classes if you don't know how to read? Mr. Loud Mouth. How do you expect to write? Hmm?"

Benjamin did not say anything but it appeared that he was already in trouble, and he did not want to make it worse. He really wanted her to move on, but she made him feel even dumber. "What? Do you think being a wizard is about waving a wand and doing magic like a baboon? We are here to get an education. More you know about the English Language, more you can read, and learn which results in more magic one could do. Magic is limited by the Human Language. In other words you cannot just go feel something and have magic happen in a controlled fashion. When you have magic that is only controlled by feelings and not by thoughts, spells can happened without you meaning them to occur which can lead to disastrous results. That is why for example you have pillows turning into gooses or ropes changing into snakes, like Mr. Loud Mouth had happen to him. You learn how to control your magic by forming words in particular way, thus magic happens the way you want it to. Any questions Mr. Loud Mouth?"

Benjamin nodded his head no. He did not want her continuing on picking on him, "Benjamin, you don't talk when you are asked a question, yet you talk when you are not suppose to?"

Benjamin then said, "Yes professor, I mean no?"

"Now that I have you tongue twisted" Professor Sullivan said. Rest of the class laughed for a moment before she started to teach them the rules to the English Language and handed them the first homework assignment which was to go to the library and get a book that they would like to read. Benjamin then went to math, where the teacher was just as hard on him as the English teacher was. The Math teacher was named Professor Chris Miller. After a disastrous math lesson, the boys went back into the Gathering Hall to have lunch. After lunch they went down to the charms class room for the afternoon. When he got there, he found a friendly face. Professor Clever was the teacher for that class. To his dismay however, Professor Sullivan ended up being right. It appeared that being a wizard was not just memorizing a bunch of spells or waving a wand around like a baboon. Professor Clever explained, "for some spells to work, you have to move your wand a certain way or it won't work. For others if you don't feel the correct way, it won't work. If you mispronounce a spell, it could end up being a different spell…"

Benjamin week continued the same way, with the teachers for some odd reason giving him a very hard time. They seemed to have targeted him out for some reason. The worst had to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, Professor William Wright. He seemed to hate Benjamin and tried to make an example out of him ever time possible. They were learning how to disarm each other, and Benjamin was horrible at it. He was sometimes paired up with Tony, while other times he was paired up with Danny. Danny dominated him so bad in one class, that Professor Wright made both of them stay over in only which he got worse.

Other than the teachers being really mean to him in his opinion, he could not have been happier. He never had friends, and to be close to Tony and Danny made the teachers bearable. When Benjamin needed them the most, which was usually after Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Wright, they were nowhere to be found. He would go down to dinner, hoping to find them already in the hall, just to be disappointed and sitting by himself. He kept checking his Ipod that the school had given him to see if there was anything going on, but there was not from what he could tell. They kept disappearing before dinner. When they come back, which was sometimes near midnight, they looked like they had lots of fun. Every time he would ask them where they were, they would not give him an answer. With him doing so horrible in his classes he hardly had time to ponder this mystery.

September became October as Benjamin continued to try to keep up with the class work. He felt like none of the teachers were happy with him, and it was apparent, at least to him, that he was failing. He was looking at other answers that Danny and Tony had, and saw he had what appeared to be the same answer. For some odd reason his was marked off while the other two were correct. When he tried to confront a teacher about it, he would get a scolding. Benjamin tried to ask for more help, but no one was willing to give it to him. So he was stuck what he thought were not very good grades in an increasing hostel situation.

One day he got out of a particularly nasty Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Professor Wright had once again demonstrated in front of the whole class how Benjamin still could not disarm his opponent let alone block an unfriendly spell. Professor Wright said, "I hate to see you get into a duel, you would lose within moments it starting. Everyone else in the class can do it expect you."

Benjamin did not say anything back, but waited for the bell to ring while the class laughed out loud at him. When it finally did, he rushed out of the class dejected. He needed a moment to himself so he started to go toward the lake that the school had on the edge of its grounds. Where ever Tony or Danny went off to, he did not care. He would not be able to find them anyways. Suddenly, he heard a couple of people screamed, and the voices sounded familiar. He looked back, and saw a boy around five feet, seven inches with black hair picking on them. While he looked much smaller, than everyone else in his grade, but he was still a lot bigger than him, even if he looked like a twig. The entire school seemed to stop doing what it normally does, as everyone went around seeing the fight occur. He saw who the victims were, and his heart sped up in fear. He saw Tony and Danny picking themselves up off the ground shaking. There was no way they had neither the talent nor the experience to take anyone one, let alone the big kid Benjamin thought.

Benjamin ran to the defense of his friends while yelling, "Why don't you pick on someone you own size? Too scared that they are better then you? Yeah I am talking to you! Why don't you fight me instead?"

The boy replied back, "Why should I fight someone who can't even disarm their opponent?."

The entire school laughed. Benjamin wondered how the entire school knew while walking closer to the boy and said, "At least I don't look like you, your mother must have puked when she bore you out! I see she doesn't even feed you."

"At least my parents wanted me! I heard you were dumped off at an orphanage because your parents could not stand to look at you!" The boy replied back.

The entire school must have been there now, but there were no adults to be found as they were all laughing as hard as they could. Benjamin was shaking with anger while saying, "Then why not pick on me then? You have an opportunity to do it now. Too chicken to do so?"

The boy roared, "Locomotor Mortis"

Benjamin was to slow to dodge the spell as his legs froze together, and he fell to his side. Benjamin shouted, "Expelliarmus"

The boy just laughed as the spell missed him by miles, "You are pathetic! Wingardium Leviosa"

Benjamin started to be lifted off the ground. The boy said, "Look, it's a bird, it's a broom, no its Ben falling down",

Benjamin hit the ground hard. The boy repeated the spell several more times, lifting Benjamin higher each time, increasing the pain that was inflicted upon him. Every time Benjamin picked himself up, while his legs were still glued together. Benjamin face was now bloody. He had bumps, bruises, and scrapes covering his entire body, but he did not give the entire school the satisfaction that he was weak. The fact that the school started to cheer for him after he got up the 10th time was encouraging to him. The boy face has changed also. Benjamin saw fear in his face. While Benjamin may not have any talent, he had determination and guts on his side. The boy was shocked at him. Benjamin was shaking badly, and wanted this to end. He took his wand, pointed at the boy, and with all of his might, screamed, "Expelliarmus!"

The spell hit the wand, and it flew out of boy's hands into Professor Jansen's hand. Benjamin not knowing what to comprehend fell to the ground and passed out as everyone scattered in every different direction. When he awoke, he found that he was in an office that had a huge boat in the middle of it. He got his surroundings, and saw that this must be the headmasters' office. The sun was now setting, which meant he had to be out for at least a couple of hours. The boy who he fought was sitting on a wooden chair, right beside him smiling. Benjamin picked himself off the wooden floor that the professor had laid him on. Benjamin found that the boy had his wand. Before he could make a grab for it, he saw a group of teachers standing around the desk which included his house professor, Professor Clever, Professor Jensen and finally, Professor Wright, all of them smiling. Benjamin had no idea what was going on, so he asked, "What happened? Besides the fight."

Professor Jansen said, "Well first, I would like you to meet you Steven Hill, although you might know him as the bully. Steven, I think 20 house points shall be awarded to you for playing the villain."

Benjamin interrupted, "What! Why?"

Professor Jansen said, "Manners Ben, take a seat please."

A red cushioned chair appeared out of thin air. Benjamin replied back while sitting down, "Headmaster, Why is he getting rewarded for beating me up? I thought that fighting was not tolerated?

Professor Jansen said, "And it is not. I think we owe you an explanation on some issues that you may be having."

Benjamin said while growing louder with ever word, "Yes you do professor, such as why is it that all the teachers are hard on me? Why is it that I have to follow the rules, yet no one else does? Why…

Professor Wright cut him off and said, "You dolt, listen. No one broke a rule; the fight was arranged by me because your class performance has been abysmal at best. It took a lot of brain power to get you to this point tonight, so before you start sounded hurt and dejected, listen! Listen before you make a judgment for or against someone!"

Benjamin's mouth hanged opened. Professor Jansen said, "You may want to close your mouth before you let the flies in, although you could do with the extra protein."

"May I have my wand back?" Benjamin asked already knowing what the answer was going to be

"I don't think that is such a good idea." Professor Jansen replied.

"Can't we already get on with the story so he is not hanging in the dark?" Professor Clever asked.

Benjamin got off the red cushioned chair. He saw a huge ancient silver basin with some odd symbols on it on top of the desk. How he could have missed it in the first place was beside him. Professor Jansen said sensing that Benjamin was getting carious said, "This is called a pensive. It holds memories of events, and thoughts of people. I think this will be much more satisfying to you if you see why things has happened tonight instead of us telling you what has happened. I believe that old adage of seeing is believing. I will let you go on and see for yourself. Just stick you head and watch."

Professor Jansen pointed to the basin, Benjamin walked over and without a care in the world as he stuck his head in. He fell feet first softly into what surely was a different world. Moments later he saw Professor Jansen sitting with a feather pen while writing what must have been a letter. Benjamin tried to have the professor notice that he was there, but he was surprised that the professor did nothing but continued to write. Benjamin called the professor a few choice words, to see if that would get his attention, but it did not. Then Benjamin realized that he must be in the professor memory, and what he was seeing was an event from his prospective.

Professor Jansen was filling out an incident report. It had to do with Benjamin, of course. He thought that this kid was a lot of problems so he was not surprised that he had to write yet another report on Benjamin. He meant to get it done sooner, but with school starting, he had to put this off a couple of weeks. Professor Jansen continued to write filling in the details of the incident. He had yet to tell Benjamin, but he had already broken several wizard laws. He already had to write a report on when Benjamin got his wand, and he knew that Benjamin was going to be watched much more carefully. Professor Jansen was looking over his last paragraph which stated,

In conclusion I did not punish Benjamin Eells due to the circumstances that had fallen unto him. I shudder to think what would have happened if Benjamin did not apprehend Danny Corriea. While Benjamin Ells did conduct magic he had no control over it. During that actual confrontation of Danny, Benjamin did not use magic, and after asking the witness, Charles Roth, Benjamin had no attention of using magic. Magic was used because his phoenix came to him because he was in of medical attention. Since he had no control over this incident, thus I cannot in good consequence punish him for something he had no control over. I thank you for writing in concern of Benjamin Eells, but at this moment, he will not be punished for such an action. He will be told of it when the time is right, so that he can learn how to control himself and his magic. May I please just take this brief moment to remind you while Benjamin comes from a questionable background, he is not the first nor will he be the last to lose control of his magic without meaning to.

Professor Jansen continued to read that last paragraph. He a knock on his door. He got up and walked to it and opened it up. "Hello Professor Wright, Professor Clever, what do I owe the pleasure?"

Professor Wright said, "Benjamin Ells sire."

Professor Clever said, "Professor Sullivan will be here in a moment."

Moments later, Professor Sullivan was running into the office, red faced, with a few papers, and a note book. She said to Professor Sullivan, "I got his work."

Professor Wright said, "Good, let get down to business, I think we can all agree that Benjamin Ells is a good kid, but he is not able to keep up with the work that is being presented before him. He can't even perform a simple spell."

Professor Jansen asked, "How is his theoretical work?"

Professor Sullivan said, "His theoretical work is really sound."

Professor Clever said, "I think he is excellent on that. He gets a tad bit sloppy, but right now he got an exceed expectations in my class."

Professor Wright said, "He would be failing if I did not have any mercy on him."

Professor Jansen said, "Why don't you all leave your notes with me, and I shall see what needs to occur."

All of the professors handed him their notes, and walked out of the room. After that the scene before Benjamin faded, with Professor Jansen studying the notes. What had to been at least a couple of weeks later, the scene focused back on Professor Jansen with the notes lying on his desk. He was pacing up and down talking to what seemed to be an audience. Right before the scene faded again, Benjamin noticed that there was a wall with portraits. The scene faded once again, just to have it come into focus.

It was dark that night, Professor Jansen stacks of papers seemed to be even higher then what it was the last time. He was in his midnight blue robe. There were also a group of people around him all wearing black robes. Benjamin noticed several of them, including the boy who he dueled with, Danny, Charles, Tony, Professor Sullivan, Professor Wright, and Professor Sullivan. Professor Jansen said, "Good evening everyone. As you can tell by the stacks of papers, that I have been really busy determining the case of Benjamin Ells, considering all view points. I have come to a final decision, however before I announce it, does anyone have any final words to be said.

Professor Clever said, "I just think we have been too hard on the boy. We are expecting way too much out of him.

Professor Wright said, "I think we have not expected enough out of him. His grades are suffering while he manages to only get further behind.

"Just because he cannot perform magic to your satisfaction." Professor Clever responded back.

"He cannot perform it if his life was dependent on it. Headmaster, I must ask why you accepted him into this school, if we are not going to expect him to perform magic." Professor Wright said.

"We have been trying to help him." Charles said in defense of Benjamin.

"Your efforts have failed. I ask for you not to speak any more Charles." Professor Wright said.

"What do you have against the boy?" Professor Sullivan asked. "I want to know. He feels that he is overworked. He feels like he is being singled out, especially by you."

"I assure you he is not." Professor Wright defensively said

"If I may speak, since I am the headmaster here, I thank you all for sharing your concerns over Benjamin. I don't think the problem is that Benjamin cannot perform magic; rather he sees no need to. I do not need to remind you that he has been punished for doing such in the past. So he is not going to do such until he realizes that he is not going to get hurt from it or until the need exceeds the risk of getting hurt. I see from his work that his has got an incredible mind, just not in magic yet. All of his muggle classes are at 'Exceeds Expectations' or 'Outstanding.' I think he has a barrier that needs to be addressed with his magic classes.

"If I was to grade him, and Professor Clever please agree with me, he is at dreadful." Professor Wright said.

"I have to agree with you, but I am not going to punish him for his past." Professor Clever said.

A woman came into the office wearing a red robe with a red pointed hat came in. She pointed a wand right beside the Headmaster and a red cushioned chair popped up. She sat down it, and said, "Headmaster, I have made the arrangement that you have asked for. I have room for the boy."

"I thought you only dealt with elite students." Professor Clever said.

"I do, his recommendation came from a very high source." Professor Allison Cooper said.

"As I was saying, before Allison walked in, Benjamin has a barrier that needs to be addressed. I have accepted the idea that he needs to be in 'Advance Training for Underage Wizards Program.' So with that being said, Benjamin is now in that class."

"Who recommended him?" Professor Clever asked.

"I did." Benjamin almost fell down to the ground from the shock who said it. The man stood up. It was Professor Wright.

"What? Why?" Professor Clever asked.

Professor Jansen answered, "That is because Professor Wright along with you believes that the boy is really talented. He like you thinks he needs to be giving a chance to perform. At the end of the day, I have to side with Professor Wright. He comes here to school to learn magic. How can we tell what he is learning magic wise if he cannot perform it? At the same time, I have taking your concerns into account. The papers from Professor Sullivan confirm your fears that he feels like he is being picked on. After reading many of them myself, I have concluded that Benjamin has not been put into a situation where he can prove himself."

"That is when you three come into the picture." Professor Cooper said to the three boys sitting there. "Professor Wright has come up with a great idea that we think will work."

Professor Wright said, "Steven here is going to play the starring role here, although I may live to regret this. Steven here is going to duel with Benjamin and get him to perform magic without killing him. In other words, we are going to create a situation where the need for him doing magic is going to exceed the risks that he perceives."

Professor Cooper asked, "Steven what is your plan?"

Steven replied back, "Well, I think if I can get him into a fight by picking on his friends here, I think it will work. I will put a curse on Tony and Danny here. I need to practice on them so I don't do the spell wrong." Steven saw that both Tony and Danny was concerned, so he said, " The spell will knock them to the ground, and then make them shake as the get up. It does not harm them, and it is painless. The spell makes a huge bang which should get his attention. If you both could yell as if you are in pain, that will bring him over even faster. Then we will duel until he disarms me.

Professor Wright asked, "Don't forget that your objective is to get him to disarm you, not for you to kill him, or for you to get carried away. At the same time, You can't be nice, Do you think you can do all of that at once?"

"Yes Professor." Steven replied.

Professor Clever asked, "How do you know this is going to work. Even if he sees his friends being hurt, what will make him go to their aid?"

"I will harder on Benjamin than normal, which I hope will put him in a mood that he needs to prove himself to everyone." Professor Wright said.

"But how do you know it will work, doesn't he hang by himself?"

Danny spoke, "Only during dinner and at night. He is always around Tony and I during the day. He will come, I know he will, he won't care about the price of defending us. He did not care when he chased me into the woods. He always has done the right thing. He will do it here."

Professor Jansen said, "I think this will work for several reasons. Steven here is going to put on a very good act of hurting Tony and Danny. This will attract Benjamin attention. Knowing his heart, Ben, won't be able to stand seeing his friends get hurt. He will have to sacrifice himself in front of everyone in order to protect his friends. His sacrifice will enable him to prove himself in front of everyone. He will get desperate, which will allow him to use the magic he has within him.

Professor Clever said, "Headmaster, how do you know that he will succeed?"

Charles said, "Because he has yet to fail."

Steven said, "Benjamin will succeed because there have been others before him that was in the same situation that he is in now. All I needed was to prove to myself that I could do it. I remember being just like him. All he needs is someone to take him on. I don't know why you chose me.

Professor Cooper said, "I wouldn't expect you to either."

Professor Jansen said, "And I don't want you to either."

Professor Wright said, "Don't screw this up."

Benjamin was leaning against the wall seeing this all. He still did not understand why the duel had to occur, but he understood how it occurred. He looked and saw another Professor Jansen standing right beside him. He said, "Time for us to go, for the rest is history."

Professor Jansen grabbed Benjamin's arms. Benjamin felt a lifting sensation. Within moments both came out of the pensive. Benjamin went to an empty seat and was already sitting down. Before anyone could talk Benjamin asked, "Why did I have to duel with Steven?

Professor Wright answered, "I thought that the answer would be obvious. It was because you had to prove yourself. There was no way in the world that you would be able to do it under normal class room conditions. You needed someone to compete with. Steven here agreed make the conditions more conducive for you to perform magic."

Benjamin still looked dumbfounded. He did not really understand why he had to go through the pain and humiliation that he just endured. Professor Jansen said, "I don't expect you to comprehend this tonight. I know that this is all confusing for you. For practical purposes, to be in Professor Cooper's Class, you have to meet several conditions. Having extordanry talent is just a small part of it. You have to show that you know when you can use magic and how to use it. This duel showed everyone that you know when and how to use magic. Because of that, you now meet the conditions that are set forth. So Professor Cooper will accept you.

Professor Cooper said, "That class will begin for you tomorrow. You are required to bring all homework to my class. For you, it will begin right after dinner, and it will end after midnight at times. The class is done when your lesson is over with and your homework is done. My class is very different. My class deals with lots of different subjects, but it is the first step onto becoming an auror, a dark wizard catcher. Not all who takes my class ends up being an auror. Some ends up dealing with muggle relations, while others end in theoretical magic."

Benjamin asked, "Why was I chosen?"

Professor Wright answered, "Because of the potential that you have. While all of us agree that you do struggle, when you are put in very trying circumstances, you seem to thrive. I think that this class will help you with the others classes that you are struggling. On top of that, you will get personal attention that you need."

Professor Copper said, "Steven here will mentor you."

Before Benjamin could ask another question, Professor Jansen said, "Before I send you all to bed for the night, I have one last thing to say. Benjamin, you are awarded 20 points for standing up to bullies."

Benjamin smiled, but asked, "What is the big boat here for?"

Professor Jansen said, "That is another story for another day."

Benjamin took this as he was dismissed. Charles, Tony and Danny walked off with him. They all congratulated Benjamin while walking to their dormitories about now being in the class. They all told him that is where they had been at every night. They all told how they got in. Charles got in a long time ago by showing his strength. Tony made it in for the same reasons. Danny told a long story how Professor Clever saw him working on a charm that was very advance and how she was impressed by the quality of the magic.


End file.
